Vestibule-diaphragm.



JAMES H. DONALDSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

VESTIBULE-DIAPHRAGM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented March 17', 1908.

'Application led July 1, 1907. Serial No. 381,582.

T o all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES I-I. DONALD- SON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, county of Cook, State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inVestibule-Diaphra ms, and declare the following to be a ful, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference bein had to the accompanying drawings, Whic form a part of this specification.

My invention relates 'to the construction of diaphragrns for use on the vestibules of passenger cars and has for its object to rovide means whereby ordinary repairs to t e platform of a car, as for example the replacing of buer springs, and inspection may be effected without requiring the diaphragm to be detached from the car or from the face plate which is adapted to engage the face plate on an adjacent car.

It is customary to so construct diaphragms that they may be distended suHiciently to carry the outer face thereof a predetermined distance away from the end of the car but notsufliciently to permit the ready inspection of the resilient portions of the platform or the parts of the draftrigging immediately adjacent the end of the platform. When it is desired to inspect or repair these arts it is necessary to detach the legs of t e diaphragm either from the car or from the outer face plate in order to get the diaphra m and face plate out of the way. The diap ragrns are usually secured in place by means of numerous screws and therefore their detachment is a tedious operation and the workmen frequently, instead of removing the screws one at a time, make use of a screwjack, thereby tearing the diaphragm from the car and usually injuring the diaphragm.

The present invention contemplates the use of a simple expedient whereby it becomes unnecessary to detach the diaphragm either from the car or from the face plate, by enabling the diaphragm itself to be abnormally distended at the lower portions so as to provide ready access to the parts which it may be desired to inspect or repair. To this end I make use of a diaphragm of usual construction in which each leg is made up of a number of sections which are formed in pairs so that two adjacent sections consist of a single strip of material folded together. It is usual tozprovideja row of stitching a short distance within the folded edge at the junction of companion sections and, in accordance with the present invention, I omit these stitches along the lower part of the legs of the diaphragm. By this means the diaphragm as a whole may be distended a normal distance with the outer face plate parallel with the front of the car; but,when it is desired to have access to the car parts beneath the lower end of the diaphragm, the lower ends of'the legs may be distended more than the normal distance; this being permitted by reason of the omission of the stitches at the lower ends of the legs. At the same time that the lower ends of the legs are distended abnormally the upper ends are, of course, distended less than the maximum amount, so that the face plate slants outwardly from the top toward the bottom.

My invention will be more fully understood and its various objects and advantages will be more apparent from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing wherein;

Figure 1 is a front view of one half of the diaphragm arranged in accordance with the present invention, the face plate being omitted to more clearly show the construction of the diaphragm; Fig. 2 is a section taken -on line 2 2 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3 3 of Fig. 1 Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the diaphragm shown in Fig. 1 together with the outer face plate, the diahragm being in the position wherein the ower ends of its legs are distended to the extreme limit 5 Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 5 5 of Fig. 4; and Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 6 6 of Fi 4.

Referring to the drawing, A indicates a diaphragm as a whole having apair of legs similar to the le A connected by a top portion A2. Each eg and the top portion are made of a number of sections, six of these sections, (IL/ c2 being shown. These sections are arranged in pairs so that each pair may be made of a single strip of material folded lengthwise upon itself. a and a2 are made of one piece, sections a3 and a4 are made of another piece, and sections a and a are made of a third piece. The several pairs of sections are united by joining the free edge of one section to the free edge of the adjacent section of the next pair in any suitable manner. The sections are usually arranged so that the fold in the fabric which forms the adjacent ends of two Thus sections integral sections is on the inside, although this is not of course absolutely essential. It is customary to run a row of stitching B through the folds near the edge thereof, this stitching ordinarily running throughout the lengths of the legs. The extent to which the legs of the diaphragm may be distended depends of course upon the length of each section between the fastenings on the outside of the diaphragm and the row of stitches on the inner side. In accordance with my invention the stitching does not extend entirely to the bottom of the legs but terminates at some intermediate point. I have found that very good results may be obtained by leaving out the stitching throughout about two feet at the lower ends of the legs, as indicated in Fig. l. By this means the lower portions of the legs may be distended materially further than the remainder of the diaphragm since the effective width of each section is greater at the bottom than throughout those portions along which the stitching extends.

In Fig. l the diaphragm is shown in the position it occupies when the lower portions thereof are distended as far as they will go.

The face plate C, being rigid, does not bend, but slants backwardly from the bottom to the top. The lower part of the diaphragm is therefore further away from the car and .the upper end is nearer the end of the car than would be the case if the whole diaphragm were distended in such a manner as to leave the face plate C parallel with the end of the car D and the to of the diaphragm is distended less than t iis latter amount. It will thus be seen that the diaphragm operates in the usual way while the face plate remains parallel with the car but, at the same time, an abnormal extension of the lower end may be obtained as circumstances may require; and thereby the detachment of the diaphragm from the face plate or from the car to permit inspection or repair of the parts adjacent the end of the platform is unnecessary.

ln Fig. 6 l have shown the relative posin tions of the several sections of one of the legs near the bottom thereof when the diaphragm is distended as shown in Fig. 4. In Fig. 5 l have illustrated the positions of the sections at a point somewhat above the lower unstitched portions.

Having now fully described my invention, Si

what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1 l. A vestibule diaphragm having legs made up of a plurality of connected sections, the effective width of said sections being greater at one end than at the other.

2. A vestibulediaphragm made up of a number of sections arranged to permit a predetermined distention of the diaphragm when the faces of the diaphragm are main- G tained parallel and a greater distention of one end of the diaphragm upon inclining the faces of the diaphragm towards each other.

3. A vestibule-diaphragm made up of a number of connected sections whose effective width is greater at the bottom than at the top.

4. A vestibule-diaphragni made up of a number of sections connected together so as to have a uniform effective width through 7:

out a portion of their lengths and a greater effective width throughout the remainder ol" their length.

5. A vestibule-diaphragm made up of a number of sections arranged in pairs, each so edge. r: s:

6. A vestibule-diaphragm made up of a number of sections arranged in pairs, each pair being formed of a strip folded. longitudinally, and means for fastening the sections of each pair together except at the lower ends thereof along a line within the folded edge.

7. A vestibule-diaphragm made up of a number of sections arranged in pairs, each pair being formed of a strip folded longitudinally, a row of stitching passing through the sections of each pair near the folded edge, said stitching terminating at some distance above the lower end of the diaphragm.

ln testimony whereof, l sign this specifi cation in the presence of two witnesses.

JAMES H. DONALDSON.

fitnesses z WM. F. FREUDENREIGH, HARRY S. GAITHER. 

